


All That We've Fought For

by nayanroo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, I can show you the world, Mom Approval (TM), allura is ready to move this thing along, aurora-induced honesty, shiro is trying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 10:23:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10637907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nayanroo/pseuds/nayanroo
Summary: After the war, Allura can't ignore how she feels any longer.  She doesn't want Shiro to, either.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NoRationalThoughtRequired](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoRationalThoughtRequired/gifts).



> [dips a baby toe into the shallura fic pool
> 
> runs away screaming]
> 
> My good friend and partner in crime gave me the prompt of "Shiro taking Allura to visit Earth" and instead of a drabble it turned into about two thousand words of feelings and a meet-n-greet with Momma Shiro. I hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> Title is from "Don't Panic" by Coldplay.

Allura watched as the blue-green planet spun below them. The night side was spiderwebbed in light, strings like pearls stretched between glowing cities; the day side, the side Shiro was piloting the Black Lion toward, glittered in greens and blues and browns and the silver-white of clouds. It looked like Altea, in so many ways, and her heart ached to think of her home. But she was excited to see what Earth was like after hearing her Paladins talk about it incessantly for nearly six years. And… well.

She glanced at Shiro out of the corner of her eye as he quietly talked with Earth’s flight control, confirming his flight plan for the day. He’d found her in the Castle as everyone else was celebrating, watching the wreckage of the Galra Empire’s fleets be towed into a safe orbit near Earth’s moon, and asked – uncharacteristically shyly – if she’d like to accompany him to some of his favorite places on Earth once the diplomacy was done. His smile when she’d accepted had made her stomach flip, and the way he’d walked back into the festivities, a lightness in his step, had made her smile too.

They’d been circling this for years, ever since Keith had gone haring off and returned with a pale and barely coherent Shiro, still in his armor, unaware of how long he’d been gone but obviously the worse for wear. Allura had stood by his cryopod and watched as his vitals stabilized and the thousand small wounds on his skin healed, and she’d twisted her fingers together and wondered when his life had come to mean so much to her. But there’d been a war on, and so she’d done her best to keep Shiro at arm’s length, and he’d respected it. 

But there had been late nights, strategy meetings where they’d bumped shoulders or where Allura had pressed her thigh up alongside his as she’d leaned over to explain something, and she’d seen the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t watching him, like she’d hung the stars in the sky herself. Then there’d been the time she’d fallen asleep and found herself with a blanket draped over her and Shiro nearby in a chair, addled from sleeplessness but adamant that she rest—or the time she’d personally steered him into his bed and stood by until he fell asleep, and then a little after, willing her fingertips to stop itching with the need to stroke that shock of white hair out of his eyes.

But now he was focused, bringing his Lion down in a long and looping path so she could see his home planet through the viewscreens. Faintly she sensed an echo of the Lion’s own interest too. They’d never truly bonded even when Allura had flown in Shiro’s absence, so most of it came through her attachment to all the Lions, but she thought that perhaps this connection ran deeper. When one loved a Paladin, the Lion took notice.

“So,” she said, palms rubbing against her thighs as she stood behind the pilot’s chair. “Where are we going?”

“I’ve got a list.” Shiro grinned up at her and Allura’s fingers tightened on the chair, just a bit. “Think of it like a primer to all the things this planet has to offer, Princess.”

The trip took most of the day, though they switched from the sunlit side to the dark side so often she only marked time when she remembered to look at a chrono. They had breakfast watching Earth’s sun rise above great stone pyramids; darted south to Antarctica to talk to scientists and watch great sea beasts (“Whales, Princess, they’re whales”) breach the surface of dark and frigid waters; flew into the heart of Australia where Allura could feel the air nearly vibrating with the Earth’s quintessence as she walked round a great red outcrop of rock in the middle of a sweltering hot desert. 

She marveled at statues on a bare and windswept island in the middle of the ocean, breathlessly lead the way up a stone staircase to a building atop a mountain in Peru (“Machu Picchu, to this day nobody knows what it was used for”). Snowy mountains, fields of wildflowers in bloom that reminded her so strongly of Altea, canyons carved by time and the breathtaking and stark beauty of a chilly Arctic night lit by auroras, all filled her with wonder. 

Now their day was almost ended, and Allura found herself wishing for just a few more hours, just a little more time she could spend watching Shiro talk about his home. She pressed close to him as they sipped hot chocolate on a wooden deck in a country called Iceland, shivering despite the heat of the beverage, and tried not to smile when he not only slung his jacket over her shoulders but put an arm around her as well, his hand rubbing her arm to warm it. 

After they’d stood on the wooden deck for an hour and she’d watched him check his comm four times, she asked, “Are you waiting for something?”

“Hm? Oh, uh. Nothing.” He shifted so his body was at an angle, facing her but not warm and solid against her side, and she felt the loss of heat acutely. It let her watch the colors from above play across his face, in the depths of his dark eyes, and she bent to take a sip from her drink and wet a mouth that had gone suddenly dry. She could look at that face every day for the rest of their lives and never tire of it. “I was just waiting to hear back on something. I hope I didn’t make you feel ignored—“

“Not at all.”

“I…” he cleared his throat. “I’ve. Really enjoyed today, Princess.”

“Shiro. You know you can call me by my name.”

“I know.” 

He grinned at her a little, but in the way of someone madly in love with their companion and hoping that their feelings are returned. Allura thought about kissing him, but held back.

“I’ve enjoyed today as well, _Shiro_ ,” she said pointedly, and he snorted. “Your planet is… amazing. From space it looks like Altea did, but… it is so unique, and its people so varied and wonderful. Thank you for showing it to me.”

“I thought you’d enjoy this.” Shiro coughed again, checked his comm one last time before shoving it away. “I wanted you to see it. Ever since I got back… well, before, really. I wanted you to see what I fight for.”

“I’m honored.” Allura slid closer, her fingertips just slotted between his where they rested on the wooden railing. He didn’t move, and she stepped in again.

“Princess?”

“What did I say?”

“…Allura,” and there was a note in it that made her breath hitch just slightly. “I… Should we…?”

“We’ve put it off for too long, I think,” she replied, knowing what he meant and how hard it was to give voice to something that she’d done her best to suppress for years. “Unless I mistake your intentions?”

He was silent for so long she began to wonder if she had indeed, but then he smiled, one brilliant enough to match the lights above, and when they turned their faces back up to the sky he encircled her waist with his arm. Allura leaned into him and smiled into her mug. Yes, this was much better, even if he did shift nervously sometimes, his fingers flexing on her side.

When they finally finished their drinks and left, he put his hand at the small of her back to walk her up the ramp into the Black Lion. The spot stayed warm as he powered up and took off, distracting enough to keep her from realizing that their flight path wasn’t taking them back up to the castle.

“Shiro?”

“We’ve got one more stop,” he said, so quietly she had to lean in. “And it’s very special to me.”

Allura fell silent, wondering, as Shiro took the Lion up over the iceberg-riddled waters of the Arctic and back down to the other side of the planet, skimming over water until an island rose in front of them.

“This is Japan,” he said. “My mother’s from here. After I went missing on the Kerberos mission she moved back to look after her parents.”

He talked about the history and culture of the islands as they neared, then swung up the coast. It seemed like a beautiful land, and she said as much.

“But why are we here?”

“You gotta be a little patient, Allura.” The Lion banked inland, and in a few minutes was landing neatly in a field outside a small town. “You’re about to find out.” He hesitated, then took her hand in his flesh one. It was warm and calloused and her fingertips traced a thin scar that crossed the back of his thumb. When she looked up he had a small smile playing about his lips. Allura decided she liked it.

The town wasn’t big, and soon they found themselves in a section that seemed to be all old wooden houses behind tall fences and plants. The sound of running water – fountains, she thought – was everywhere, juxtaposed with the noise of vehicles passing them by. Shiro turned down a side street, then led her up to one of the gates and went through.

There wasn’t any door panel – this place was low-tech, he’d explained as they’d walked down the streets – so when they got to a sliding section of paper-and-wood wall, he reached out and tugged on a rope. Somewhere inside the building, a bell rung softly.

While they waited, Allura glanced up at him. He seemed nervous, his hand tight on hers, so she squeezed it and felt him return the gesture.

“Shiro?”

He looked over. “It’s okay. I just… it’s been a while.”

Allura was about to ask what he was talking about when one side of the wall slid back and a woman stepped out. It was readily apparent who she was; she and Shiro had the same light in their eyes, and the way she smiled so reminded Allura of him that there was only one person this woman could be.

“Takashi!” the woman said softly, her smile lighting up her entire face. She surged forward, and Shiro let go of Allura’s hand so he could wrap his arms tightly around the woman in an embrace, burying his face in her throat. “You _did_ come!”

“I said I would!”

“It’s been… I haven’t seen you in person in years!”

“I know. I’m sorry, I was a little busy saving the universe.”

“Busy bringing stress to my heart. But you’re here now, and…” the woman stepped back so she could look Allura up and down critically. “You’ve brought a princess.”

“This is Princess Allura of Altea. She’s who we’ve been with, Keith and myself and the others. Princess, this is my mother, Kiyo Shirogane.”

“It’s an honor, Lady Shirogane,” Allura said. She was unsure what the protocol was, but manners upon meeting Shiro’s mother were a safe assumption.

There was a long moment of silence before Kiyo broke into a smile again and reached forward, embracing her too. She barely came up to Allura’s shoulders, but there was presence and strength in her grip, and warmth and welcome.

“I’m no lady, I’m afraid,” she said, stepping back. “But if you want to call me one, I’m not going to stop you. Why don’t the both of you come in? I’m afraid we’ve already had our meal, but I will make us all tea and you can tell me, Princess Allura, about what it is my son’s been up to that he won’t tell me himself.”

“Mom,” Shiro muttered, but he was smiling ear to ear, happy at the warmth she’d received. Allura took his hand again, her heart turning somersaults in her chest.

“I’d love nothing more.”


End file.
